The 21st Century Belongs to China

2014 was an auspicious year, but not for reasons you might think. Sure, an Ebola outbreak in West Africa, Russia’s annexation of Crimea and the rise of ISIS all made headlines. But those headlines missed the biggest story. In 2014, for the first time since the eighteenth century, a non-Western country was the world’s largest economy. While many pundits charge President Trump with ceding American global hegemony, the unfortunate truth is, regardless of what the United States does, the 21st century belongs to China.

Furthermore, while the U.S. is isolating itself, China is extending its power across the globe. Their largest foreign policy campaign is the Belt and Road Initiative. Launched in 2013, the plan has ballooned to $4 trillion of investment in 65 countries, which contain 70% of the world’s population and 75% of the world’s energy resources.

Aside from making China the nucleus of global commerce, this investment gives China tremendous influence. In the mold of American Dollar Diplomacy, China loaned billions to Sri Lanka to construct a port. Today, that port is China’s. After Sri Lanka failed to make payments, China repossessed the port and, in typical imperialist fashion, holds its lease for 99 years. The world's most populous state acquired its first overseas military base in 2017 and shows no signs of reversing course.

For the time being, the U.S. has not completely surrendered the top spot in foreign influence. The dollar is still the world’s go-to reserve currency, English is still the lingua franca, Hollywood still dominates global box offices, and America’s domineering military is still preeminent. But these facts obscure the broader picture.

The United States has embarked on a campaign of geopolitical suicide. With crumbling infrastructure, a broken political system, an atrocious educational system, and collapsing alliances, America is growing increasingly helpless and sclerotic. The U.S.’s public finances are so bloated that by 2024, it will be spending more on merely the interest on its national debt than on defense. In response to China’s mammoth and multifaceted ascent, America has done little more than sit on its hands.